Detective suspended 'for stealing cash during raid'

A New York City police officer who appeared to pocket more than $3000 cash during a raid on a convenience store has been suspended without pay and could lose his job.

Narcotics squad detective Ian Cyrus was allegedly caught stealing the money from a Brooklyn deli during a swoop that saw two employees arrested for selling illegal cigarettes, New York TV station WABC reports.

Surveillance footage shows the detective and his colleagues seizing cigarettes and the money in the cash register as evidence.

The next day the store's manager Ali Abdullah was presented with a receipt documenting the US$593 seized during the raid. But the manager then noticed that a box where he kept the store's rent money was missing.

He initially suspected that one of his staff was behind the alleged theft, then he checked the store's CCTV cameras and was shocked by what he found.

The footage appears to show an detective Ian Cyrus pocketing the US$2650 ($3450) rent money after discovering the box behind the counter.

"I look at my system, I see the officer took the money," Mr Abdullah said.

"It's crazy...At least give it to the sergeant. But he cannot put it in his own pocket."

The manager said he immediately notified the police who were equally shocked when they reviewed the footage.

"They said, 'Oh (expletive),'" Mr Abdullah said.

"'He's going to lose his pension, lose his life, for $2,600.'"

Detective Cyrus has been suspended without pay and his supervisor stripped of his gun and badge and placed on desk duty.

Internal Affairs are investigating the incident.